Kathleen Simpson is a fourth-year psychology student from Toronto, Ontario. In her time at UBC, she has worked as both the clubs administrator as well as the External Advocacy Commission vice-chair for the AMS, and currently she works as the associate vice-president, external affairs. She describes her passion for the projects that the VP External office works on, which is motivating her to run for the position.
Describe your platform and what sets it apart from your opposition in a few sentences.
My platform is really centred around working more with student groups who work on campus. I think that because of the slow-moving nature of the VP External office, I’ve noticed that in previous years it hasn’t been as transparent as I would really like it to be. I’m really hoping to work with [student groups] a lot more and to build those relationships up for future years as well, but I’m also hoping to really get into more policy work, specifically three major issues that I would like to address.
What drew you to this specific position?
I’ve worked in the external office for a long time and I really love the projects that we work on. They’re things that I think are really important and I only wish that they got a lot more visibility on campus — and that’s exactly why I’m running. I want students to know about the work that we do and become more involved and engaged. [Student advocacy] is something I would really like to move towards in the future. I want the AMS to really be about advocacy and how we can better student lives.
What are the challenges facing this position in the upcoming year?
Because of the placement of the provincial elections — which will be basically on the transition for the next year — I think it’ll be really important for whoever is elected now to really work hard and get ready for those provincial elections and also be prepared for the chance that there is a possibility always that elections will be called early. I think that get-out-the-vote campaigns are really essential to general strategy for advocacy.
What was one thing your predecessor did that you agreed with and one thing that you disagreed with?
I thought that the work that the office has done and that I played in a part in for the federal elections was really fantastic. So I would definitely agree with that and I’m hoping to continue that in future years, building the voting culture at the university. In terms of differences … I am much more in favour of spending on campaigns and outreach to students.
Who is the most important body or person you need to collaborate with in this position, and how will you foster a relationship with them?
I think that, if anything, working with other student associations is incredibly important just because no matter what the projects that we’re working on and no matter which levels of government we’re advocating to, they’ll always be our partners in those things. That’s why I think it’s really important to do a review of our affiliations both provincially and federally to see whether or not we want to formalize these agreements.
What’s the weakest part of your campaign or platform?
I think that with all platforms, the greatest problem is really simplifying points that will fit into the platform. Unfortunately, that leaves out other things that obviously, as VP External, I would work on and would care about, but there’s not necessarily room in a platform that students are going to go through.
Interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.